Text Display (foo_textdisplay)

2008-07-07 09:30:31

Test Display is a UI Element for use with the Default User Interface version 0.9.5 or compatible. It displays text that is generated through title formatting from the playing track or the selected track. The component defaults to the font and colors that are configured in the Default User Interface but allows the user to override them when desired.

The number of options has been kept small for several reasons. Most importantly, it makes it easy even for new users to modify the settings, instead of being limited to copying other users' settings without really understanding how they work.

Text Display (foo_textdisplay)

An usability issue: If you use text display for selected track you are not able to click inside of text display without loosing selection (in selection properties the selection is not lost) - so you can't use f.e. the "copy text" function.

Thanks for the component!

EDIT:

Another issue:

Go to layout tab of settings, check box for custom colour, change the colour: you will see in the UiElement the new custom colour. Then uncheck the box: you will see in UiElement the default colour. So far so good! But if you then check the box again the text display will keep the default colour although in the layout tab the custom color is choosen.

Text Display (foo_textdisplay)

The number of options has been kept small for several reasons. Most importantly, it makes it easy even for new users to modify the settings, instead of being limited to copying other users' settings without really understanding how they work.

Thank you for this work. When I first started to attempt to organize my music it was overwhelming - tags here, tags there, where are my tags, why is that in my tag....omg, my tags are missing!!!

This might not of been your reason for development, but I see this as a major assistant to troubleshoot tagging problems. A user can add a "troubleshooting" instance of this component in a tab for example. Then add a list of fields in a definition type of format - by escaping the field name. A couple of fields all the way to every one.

Might not be for everyone, but I find it a handy way to see just what values are held in a tag without having to change other portions of my setup that I would prefer not to fool with. It also is an easy way to test in real time titleformating syntax.

Text Display (foo_textdisplay)

[quote author=q-stankovic link=msg=575500 date=1215429557]An usability issue: If you use text display for selected track you are not able to click inside of text display without loosing selection (in selection properties the selection is not lost) - so you can't use f.e. the "copy text" function.[/quote]I'll look into it.

[quote author=q-stankovic link=msg=575500 date=1215429557]Go to layout tab of settings, check box for custom colour, change the colour: you will see in the UiElement the new custom colour. Then uncheck the box: you will see in UiElement the default colour. So far so good! But if you then check the box again the text display will keep the default colour although in the layout tab the custom color is choosen.[/quote]Thanks for reporting.

Small bug detected: Sometimes when I change song in playlist, foo_textdisplay is'nt updated with new song.

Is the selection properties element updated when that happens? Note that when you select multiple tracks, the text display element will only display the first one, no matter which one has the focus in the playlist.

Text Display (foo_textdisplay)

Is the selection properties element updated when that happens? Note that when you select multiple tracks, the text display element will only display the first one, no matter which one has the focus in the playlist.

Text Display (foo_textdisplay)

[quote author=q-stankovic link=msg=575500 date=1215429557]An usability issue: If you use text display for selected track you are not able to click inside of text display without loosing selection (in selection properties the selection is not lost) - so you can't use f.e. the "copy text" function.[/quote]It should now behave like the selection properties element with regards to preserving the selection when it gets the focus.

[quote author=q-stankovic link=msg=575500 date=1215429557]Go to layout tab of settings, check box for custom colour, change the colour: you will see in the UiElement the new custom colour. Then uncheck the box: you will see in UiElement the default colour. So far so good! But if you then check the box again the text display will keep the default colour although in the layout tab the custom color is choosen.[/quote]Fixed.

Text Display (foo_textdisplay)

this works for me:got "prefer playing" checked from foobar startclick song without lyrics: text panel shows corect outputgrab lyrcis -> text panel failed to update itself on tag changeand then its just chaotic clicking and hardly getting panel to show the correct output

after foobar restart everything is correct... seems to me like tha update tags during playback somehow did this

Text Display (foo_textdisplay)

A little bug though, when i disable "Prefer playing track" it would only show "Nothing selected" even if there was actually a track selected. Restarting foobar fixed it though.

Are you sure that this isn't the same thing that g-stankovic reported? Does it display the correct track if you click in the playlist after disabling that option?

It seems to be different from what g-stankovic reported since there is no selection display i could lose to begin with.I can reproduce it now though. I have textdisplay in a tab in the upper left corner together with album art display.If i start foobar with the textdisplay tab being selected it will work just fine, but if the album art tab was selected at startup then textdisplay wont display anything except "Nothing selected".After enabling "Prefer playing track" it will display the lyrics for the playing track but still not for the selected track if i disable it again. Only restarting foobar seems to fix it.

btw:Any chance to make the line distance a bigger or give users control of it? It really is hard to read.

Text Display (foo_textdisplay)

Fixed a bug where the text display element would get stuck with the selected track - or no track, resulting in it displaying "Nothing selected". The bug was triggered when the element was hidden after it had been shown for the first time.

About the RC 2 Zip archive: I have no problem opening the archive with the Zip viewer in Windows XP, WinRAR or 7-Zip. Also, it was created exactly the same way as the one for RC 1. If you cannot open, please tell me which program you use.

Text Display (foo_textdisplay)

About the RC 2 Zip archive: I have no problem opening the archive with the Zip viewer in Windows XP, WinRAR or 7-Zip. Also, it was created exactly the same way as the one for RC 1. If you cannot open, please tell me which program you use.

It was with 7-Zip, but the archive was correct after redownloading some hours later. Maybe a temporary server problem.

Text Display (foo_textdisplay)

All the three selection viewers for the Defaul tUi are using a "fall back": the playing track is displayed if nothing is selected - in trackdisplay's "prefer playing track" mode the selection is displayed if there is no playback. On one side i experienced in the beginning usage of the new Default ui the first type of fallback as confusing and somehow it breaks the logic of showing what is selected as it also can show a non-selected track. On the other side keeping consistent behaviour of the same type of UiElements is a good reason for textdisplay to do the same like albumart viewer and selection Properties.

With this new component as the only one wich uses so far a mode for displaying the playing instead of the selected track the danger of confusion even increases. I mean: I am now experementing with two different layouts to see wich fits at best to my needs. One layout uses a tabstack with two tabs whereby one uses a textdisplay in "prefer playing track" mode in a tab called "now playing" and the other tab called "selection" should display the information/lyrics/whatever about selected track. In the other layout i put one trackdisplay leftscreened and the other one rightscreened. In both cases i can't use the trackdisplay by just trusting my eyes - i always have to keep in mind the existence of the "fall back" logic and also the state of the player (is there playback/is there something selected or not?). In bothmodes(EDIT: If there is playback or not) these two displays can show the same in certain situations.It may seem that i am a little bit pedantic but it is really irritating me sometimes and i can imagine that new users will also be irritated.

The solution i found for me to avoid fall back in the "prefer playing track" mode is to use an if-condition: $if(%isplaying%,<text>,no playback). But if you are a user who likes to use just one textdisplay and who likes to switch between the two modes by context menu (unlike me) but also wishes a clear results (like me) you are forced to use as format: $if(%isplaying%,<text>,<same text again>) wich is unnecessaraly complicated.

Lyx's fear that a now playing mode could cause confusion seems to be justified. But i think that it also could be reduced to a minimum by dispensing the fall-back-method or respectively having a special mode for that: If you take a look in musicmusic's implementation of the tracking modes for ColumnsUi's album art viewer and item properties you will find a solution that is able to satisfy all needs of all users with different layouts and wich seems to be more userfriendly: the now playing mode just displays playing track, the selection mode just shows the selection and the automatic mode wich displays playing track/selected track if no playback.

I hope that somedays Peter will introduce also a "now playing" mode for his two selection viewers. I also hope that you will find an agreement with him to let all selection viewer components act the same way for reasons of consistency/simplicity and at same time to avoid the potential confusion i described above.

Text Display (foo_textdisplay)

Indeed, clicking the arrows on the scrollbar scrolls only by one pixel. I'll change that to an entire line for the next version.

When I released the component, I was aware that the fallback that is used with "Prefer playing track" was bound to lead to some confusion. Furthermore I decided not to follow the behavior of the existing selection viewers exactly to make it possible to view information about the playing track instead of the selection.

I quite like the idea to use three source modes, so I'll definitely consider that for a future version. It still does not solve the problem completely. It would be good to have a visual indication of the current source that does not require the user to write more title formatting code.* Of course, this would be optional but enabled by default. The big question is then how this indicator should look like. Not only should it be easy to recognize while not distracting the user too much from the actual content, it should also work with all color schemes.

If you have an idea for that, feel free to post it here. Please create a mockup image to demonstrate your idea if possible.

*: Right now, you could use "$if(%isplaying%,Playing track,Selected track)".

Text Display (foo_textdisplay)

When I released the component, I was aware that the fallback that is used with "Prefer playing track" was bound to lead to some confusion

god bless you, your ancestors back to the begining of time and futhermore to its end for this most logic decission :DDD realy realy thank you that i dont have to click like retarded imbecile on playing song to see its lyrics like i have to with album art. GOD BLESS you once more... (or any other supernatural entity you tend to believe in)

thanks for this component... btw bug reported by me seems fixed in rc3